


Unbroken, Intact

by Jelliheart (Jellibeebee)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Brief reference to death, Bullying, Gen, Humanstuck, Like canon but trolls are human and humans are trolls, Species Swap, SpeciesSwapstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2018-03-07 17:16:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3177551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellibeebee/pseuds/Jelliheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You're not trying to <em>ignore</em> me, are you?” Vickie said, her hands finding his shoulders next to curl into. Her fingernails bit through his shirt, and his insides curdled and spoiled. </p><p>He tried a Tackle, but the Wingull dodged and landed a hard hit on his Shieldon. Travis rethought his strategy and debated on whether he should send out another pokemon instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unbroken, Intact

**Author's Note:**

> This is different from a Humanstuck verse, which is a non-sburb/sgrub AU and can be found over on [my art tumblr](http://kioart.tumblr.com/). This is based on the idea that the trolls were actually human in canon and the race they created (the kids) are trolls. They still played the game, they’re still on the meteor, but there are probably more significant changes, given the change in race, such as the fact that Travis does not have metal legs and his guardian was an older brother (Summoner) instead of a tinkerbull lusus.
> 
> Travis Navarro is Tavros Nitram and Vickie is Vriska.

In a lab that was for once relatively quiet, Travis Navarro traversed the Sinnoh region.

_A wild Wingull appears!_

“Traaaavis…”

_Go! Sheldon!_

“Traaaaaavis~”

Spidery hands grabbed the back of his wheelchair and long black hair spilled over each of his shoulders.

_Sheldon used Ancient Power!_

He could smell her, hear her breathe and pick out the sharp unnerving curve of her smile without looking. It made his stomach drop, and he stared hard at his DS. The corners above the screen were worn down, exposing the material beneath the pink coating.

The console was refurbished, but it had come in relatively good condition. His brother had been pleased about that. Good as new, he’d said, but his brother had worried it wouldn’t come or that Travis wouldn’t approve of its shape. The pink was all he could find, his brother had said, brow wrinkled with worry. Travis had smiled and claimed it with a Tauros sticker before saying he loved it.

His fingers found the frayed edges of the sticker on the console’s back.

_It wasn’t very effective…_

“You’re not trying to  _ignore_  me, are you?” Vickie said, her hands finding his shoulders next to curl into. Her fingernails bit through his shirt, and his insides curdled and spoiled.

He tried a Tackle, but the Wingull dodged and landed a hard hit on his Shieldon. Travis rethought his strategy and debated on whether he should send out another pokemon instead.

Vickie leaned further over his shoulder, and her hair slipped down and trailed on the game screen. The proximity made his skin itch, and he wanted to push her away but didn’t. Instead, he remembered a hard shove, an unbalanced crash, and a sharp cackle dancing over a struggling mess of metal and limbs. The memory kept him silent, and he tried to continue the battle, despite the dark hair marring his screen.

One hand, not his own, darted out and ripped the DS from his grasp. Travis could barely utter a protest before Vickie danced away and peered down at the tiny screen. Travis fisted his hands upon his knees and bit his cheek a moment.  
  
“Give it back,” he said.

Vickie scoffed. “You’re  _still_  playing this? What a baby. I bet you haven’t even gotten to the Elite 4 once!”

That wasn’t the fun part, he thought, but her eyes were bright and dangerous when they darted back his way, and he held his tongue. Instead he said, “ _Please_  give it back.”

That seemed to disgust her, because she curled her lip and sneered at him. “ _Please give it back_ ,” she mocked. “What a wimp. Could you be anymore pathetic? Why don’t you try  _taking_ it from me, huh?”

They remained in silence for a long moment. She stared down at him like someone might a piece of gum on the sidewalk, and he uncurled his fists to instead fold his hands in his lap and wait her out. He observed as she puckered her lips and looked sour before turning back to the DS she’d claimed.

“What a lame-o team, too,” Vickie said. “Are you seriously losing to a random Wingull? That’s so  _saaaaaaaaddd_ ….” She tilted the console back and clicked her tongue. Travis watched her every move.

“And you’re using a rock-type against a water-type! I don’t know why you even bother,” she said. “You’re never going to win the way you play, and you always pick the  _worst_  pokemon. Maybe I should just save you the trouble.” Her eyes glinted as she stared at the screen, and Travis’ heart stopped

“Give it back,” Travis said, hands moving to grip the wheels of his chair. She wasn’t that far away. If he gave a hard push, he could probably catch her off guard. She would drop the DS, but he didn’t think the fall would break it. He had dropped it before. It’d be fine.

Her thin, nail-bitten fingers curled into claws around the back, obscuring the Tauros. She took a step back, face sharp, mouth drawn up on one side.

Vickie hummed, taunting him, as she looked down at the DS with faux thoughtfulness. Her hands tightened, and Travis wondered how easily it would be to break the DS. If she threw it down with force instead of dropping it, would it crack? He imagined hands like claws snapping the DS in two and laughing while he curled forward and attempted futilely to pick up the pieces, useless knees pressing into his soft belly and keeping the floor from his reach.

(Keeping his brother’s body from reach, despite the way he dragged and pleaded and cried, wishing he could turn back a clock that had already long since begun _._ )

Travis tightened his grip on the wheels and tensed when she moved, but instead of the impossible snap he feared, she tapped out a sharp confusing pattern of buttons. Travis stilled and waited, pulse racing in his throat. Vickie did this a moment or two more and then smirked and tossed the DS at him.

Travis scrambled to catch it, and it fumbled past his hands and into the unfeeling close of his lap. He picked it up and looked down at a new game screen. He flipped back through the screens, found his data erased, and a cold flush of relief and weariness rolled through him.

Vickie smirked and tossed her hair. “See? Now you can start over with  _better_ pokemon. Then, maybe you might stand a chance at actually winning. It’s a long shot, considering it’s you, but don’t worry. I have  _faith_  in you.” She laughed meanly, flipped her hair, and then strode away.

Travis stared at the screen, unbroken, intact. The Tauros sticker on the back slid under his fingers, the edges rolled and dirty, though the main of it still held, and Travis bent forward until his forehead rest against the DS’ front. He inhaled deep and then sighed a long, shaky breath.

His fingers rubbed the sticker as he sat quietly in his chair.


End file.
